System and apparatus for measuring telephone service.



No. 834,538. PATENTBD OCT. so, 1906.

i H. 1). STROUD. v SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING TELEPHONE SERVICE.

APPLICATION IILE D MAY13,1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

Wwmu

l V/YYVESSES: INVENTOR.

By WWQW ATTORNEY.

PATENTED OCT. 30, 1906.

H. n. ISTROUD. SYSTEM AND- APPARATUS FOR MEASURING TELEPHONE SERVICE,

APPLICATION FILED MAY 13, 1904.

a SHEETS-SHEET z.

INVENTOR. By M waxy ATTORNEY.

musmonn;

' SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING TELEPHONE SERVICE.

APPLICATION FILED KAY13,1904.

PATENTED OCT. 30; 1906.

a SHEETS-SHEET s.

minef eg I 1 1 UNITED L STATES PATENT OFFICE.

- HARoLnD; STROUD, .oromoAeo, ILLINOIsASSIGNOR To THE s'ritoun INTERNATIONAL MEASURED SERVICE COMPANY, or s'r. LOUlS, Mrs: scum, A CORPORATION or MISSOURI. A I

i To all whom it may concern.-

' sYsT m AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING TELEPHONE SERVICE.

S ecification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. so, 1906.

Application filed Kay 13'. 1904. Serial No. 207,876.

Be it known that I, HAROLD D. STROUD, a

I citizen-of the United'States of America, and

a resident ofOhicago, county of Cook,and.

State of Illinois, have invented a new, and useful Improvement in Systems and Apparatus for Measm'in Telephone Service, of

' which the following s a specification.

IS A Z termed flat-rate" systems,wherein a fixed ratjeas charged re ardless of the amount of theof'the telep one. I s My'invention relates particularly to that number of times the telephone is use My invention relates in general to improvements in.that class of telephone systems wherein the telephone useris charged for service on the basis of theamount he uses his tele hone. This class of systems may be broa ly termed measured-service systems,in oontradistinction from those class of devices adapted to be associated with subscribers equipments in telephone-ere;

changes for the purpose of registering the reading of the register determining the amount of charge to be made for the use of the telephone.

' In some" devices for this ose heretofore proposed the call-registering evice re isters all callsmade by the subscriber, w other such c'alls'result in the desired connections or not..."This','= in view of. the fact that some teredlonthe device at the substation.

is done byaspecialaot on the part of the opcalls are necessarily 'not successfully term} 'nated, results inflan overcharge to the subscriberi 'In other. devices onlythose calls 55 which *aresuccessfully terminated arere 'serator at the central ofiice, who by means of anyele'ctr'omagnet under her control causes -the"apparaJzus at the substation to register one count after'the two parties have been 1 'brought t ogether for conversation. 'This .kmethod'makes possible an equitable char e; -but it results in an unnecessary drag on t e her to watch each connection and manipulate the counter 'whenthevcalled-for party u resf onds a tis 'thepurp SPGGdOf the operator, .it being necessary for i oiling invention to afford a counter or meter whic will accomplish the measuring] of'telephone service on a strictl "equitable basis and at the same time resu t practically no drag'on the speed of the opthe erator. 1 To this end I so arrange the recording device that it will record a charge for all calls, whether successfully terminated or not, and I further provide means not under the control'of the user of the telephonezto regis: ter a credit for a call in case the call is un-'v successful, g I s A further object of my invention is to produce a telephone-service meter of liability than any heretofore use this IP-li'. ability being not only from the standpoint of accuracy in counting, but also from' that of low costrof maintenance.

In the operation of my meter some act on the art' of the subscriber-that it is necessary for to perform in order to secure the at tention of the central-office operator also serves to register a count on the meter. This preliminary requirement on the part of the subscriber may be-the operation .of a generof a switch, the pressure of a push-button, or other similar act which may be required in eater re.- p

ator-crank, the turning of a key, the moving order to call the central office in the exchange ter must have been properly actuatedbefore the call could have been made. In order, however, to' prevent the registration of all calls from resulting in an overcharge to the subscriber,I so construct'my meter that in the caseof an unsuccessfully-terminated call the operator at the central office has itin her ower to credit a call to that station, this bemg accomplished by electromagnetic means controlledover thecircuit of the hue. This method of crediting a call may be accomplished by the operator'havmg under'her 'control-"a magnet at the substation-meter counter back, but will place it in such con-- dition that the SllbSCl'l er'wlll 'recelve the next call without causing his meter to regwhich when energized will not turn the meterof drawings, in which the characters refer to hout,Figure1 showsa anismof my meter in partially in section, of? the apparatus in the same position. Figs. 3 and 4 show, respec tively, a front and his View of the mechane ism when. in the position. it occupies while a c ali is being made. Figs. 5 and 6 are respectively front and side views of the mechanism after the creditingmaguethas beenoperated, showing the apparatus in condition to give a free .call. Figs. 7 and S are respectively front and side views of the apparatus conip-lete with the cover in piace. Fig. 9 is a diagraphic representation of a line-circuit of a telephone-exchange equipped with one of my meters.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, A is a base-plate upon which all parts of my meter are mounted, this being preferably of metal, stampedor cast.

B is the meter proper,which maybe of any weibknown type, adapted to register one count for each. mechanical impulsegiven to its controlling part or lever. A lever b is at tached to the mainshaft of the meter, by

.means of which said shaft maybe rotated through a limited angle with respect to the casing of the meter, thus causing one count upon the register for each such movement of the shaft. The body ofv the meter '13 is mounted onthe arm I), which may, and pref erably does, form an integral part of the easing of the meter. This lever is pivoted in a bracket 1), secured in any suitable manner to the basepl ate A. By means of a pivotal connection between the meter pro er and the bracket 5 the meter as a who e may-be moved up and down through a considerable arc. It is obvious that if the leverbwere free to move with the meter when so swung on its pivot no registration would be effected on the meter. If, however, when the meter is swung downwardly and back to its normal position'the outer end'of the lever bis held practically still, one countwill be registered in the same manner as if the meter-proper had been held still and the lever swung with respect to it. It ison this principle that I secure the registration or non-registration of the meter.

(I is a rod, preferably of hard rubber or similar material, supported'and adapted to slide in the two guides c c, secured to the base The end of this rod projects through an opening in the cover D of the meter, thus forming a convenient push-button by means of which the subscriber may manipulatethe meter. The flange 0 on the rod (I serves to iimit the downward motion of the push-buttonrod by engaging the upper support a and to limit the upward motion of this rod by engaging against the inside face of the box I). The lower end of this rod rests against.

the upper face of the meter, and the downward pressure of the rod is therefore communicated to the meter in an obviousmanr assess E is an electromagnet having an armature c at its left-hand end oivoted by means of trunnion-screws e 0, carried in a bracket e", mounted on the base A, This armature has an extension 6" extending to a point beyond the line of the pivotal axis on which the armature swings, at which point is secured a coil-spring F, which tends to retract the armature from the pole-piece of the magnet. The tension of this spring may be adjusted by means of a threadf, one end of which is wrapped about a screw f adapted to turn in a block f secured to the base A. The armature e also has an-upward extension 8, which in. the normal position of the apparatus, Figs. 1 and 2, rests directly within the path of'a lever b of the meter B. When in this position, no downward movement of the outer end of the lever b will take place when the meter proper is depressed by the action of therod C, such movement being prevented by the presence of the arm e of the armature e. The lever b is therefore moved with respect to the meter-case B, and therefore a count is registered. When the pressure on the rod C is released, the meter resumes its normal position, the arm I) being held from upward movement by the bent arm g of the bracket G, Whi ch lies within the upward path of the lever. If the magnet E is energized, so as to attract the armature e, the arm 0 would be moved to the right of the path of the lever 12, as is shown in F ig. 5, and therefore with the armature held in its attracted position a downward movement of the meter would cause no registration, because the arm b-would then be free to move with the meter B.

Directly in front of the coil of the magnet E, mounted on a plate H, is a latch-lever I, carrying at its left-hand extremity a catch 71, adapted when in its normal position to catch and hold the armature e when that armature is attracted by the energization of the electromagnet. When the electromagnet is traversed by a current of suiiicient strength, its armature is attracted and. the projection a on the armature engages the catch i, and the armature is held in this position until released by said catch. The latchlever I is also provided with an upwardly-ex tending arm '1), engaged by a coil-spring i, which spring serves to hold said latch-lever normally in the proper position to engage the extension 6" on the armature. When, however, the meter B is depressed bypressureon the rod C, it engages the upwardly-extending arm i, thus moving the catch & downward against the tension of the spring "5 thus releasing the armature e if it were at the tune retained by the latch.

Mounted at the right-hand side of the electromagnet E on the base J is a pair of spring contacts j and j, insulated from the base A and normally from each other. The spring IOC - ure "180116 111;,W1de use, asis also the 'form of 0' e, 1 ner well understood in practice. The limb 1 7" carries an insulating-block j, which normally hes wlthmthe path of the right-hand portion of the meter B, its position being such that when said meter is depressed the spring 1' will be forced thereby into electrical contact with the spring 9.

The two springs are so connected in relation to the other apparatus of the telephone system, asvwill be shown,

that the circuit thus closed by them will cause the illumination of the lamp or the display of the line-signal at the central office.

J'Mounted on the armature e is a metal strip K, carrying on its front face a target or signal "16'; This signal lies close to the inside front surface of t e box D and when moved by the ,yar'matu're assumes a position direc -ly behind 't1ie'-ho'le d in the front ofthis cover; It thus 1 serves whendisplayedvas an indication to the hisnextcall without cau'sin the meter toregfist'e'r. -'The large rectanlgu front ofthe box-cover subscriber that the credit-magnet has been- 0 er'ate'd and that therefore he will receive ar holed in the affords means for "-viewin the face of the meter, meter-face I I is in its normal position. A metal shield L,

lying directly behind this hole when the meter pivotall secured to the meter-case B, partakes. 0 the vertical motion of the meter when actuated, and this closes the hole d? in the cover D when the meter is moved downward by the action of the button 0. By this means the hole (1' is closed whenever the meter is moved from behind it, and thus medtele hone-line connectin a sd metallic-circuithne extendin dlesome persons are prevented from interfering with the interior of the box.

In Fig. 9 is shown acircuit diagram of a scribers eTiilmpmentgto a central ofiice equipment.

e arrangement oftalkin and call-receiving.

apparatus shown at the su station inthisfigswitclrbbard at the central-oflice. This view also shows a ortion of the cord-circuit used at the :centra :oflice, which is of a ty e well knownto those skilledin the art. .nthis figure, 1 and 2 represent the two limbs of the from a subvscribers station S to a'multipe switchboard at the central office, In this the jacks 3 and 4 are associated with the line-circuit in aman- 0f the line extends to one of the contact-levers 5 of the cut-ofl relay 6; but the back contact 7 of this relay, instead of being connected to ground, as is done in ordinary practice, is

conditions to the back lamp 10, so as to serve as a line-signal, in a manner well understood 7 5 The apparatus at the subscribers station closed to ground by the springslj a same as that in wide use with theexception the attention of the operator. by;

consists of the well-known call-receiving bell and the usual talking apparatus and hookswitch. e

Associated with the line-circuit at the subscribers station-in the manner shown are the various partsgof my service-meter, the coil of the credit-magnet E, which is used to credit a count to the subscriber in the case of an unsuccessful call, bein placed directly in series with the limb 2 of t 1e line. Connected'with the limb 2 of the line. is the coil of a rela O, the other terminal of which is connected y a wire 12 to the contact-spring j of themeter.

The corresponding cbntact spring j is con.-

nected to ground. VVhen, therefore, themeter is operated by pressing the rod or button C, the circuit from the limb 2 of the line is this circuit includin the coil of the re 0; The armature o o the relay-is connected with the wire 12, while the front contact 0 which this armature en ages when attracted, is connectedto groun The cord-circuit of the central oflice is the that the ke Q is so associated with thetipstrand t of t e answering-plug Pthat thenormal connection closed in talking ma be broken at the contact qof this key an another at contact q closed, by which means the battery R, of approximately ninety volts, is connected between the tip-strand t and ground. The operation of this circuit ma now be understood. By virtue ofthe bacii contact 7 of the relay 6' being left open at the central'ofiice the subscriber cannot attract merely taking the receiver from its vhoo He finust therefore depress the button .C,-therebymo-. mentarily closing thecontact ii and coinpleting a circuit, which may be traced from the negative side ofthe battery B at the cenral ofiice through the coil of the relay 10, con-' tact-s 9 and 8, respectively, of the cut-off relay, to the limb 2 of the line, thence through the coil of the relay 0, the wire 12, and the Springs 1' ,j in the meter to ground, and to the positive side of the battery B at the central ofiice.

Were it not for the relay Q at the subscribers station the pressure of the button C would cause but a temporary actionof the line-relay and the corresponding flashing of the lamp 11', as the circuit would be opened as soon as the subscriber released the button. The relay 0 is, however, energized. by this passage of current, and attracting its arma ture it closes another circu1t to ground through the contacts 0 o. This-latter circuit is held closed as long as the relay 0 re ceives current. As the line-relay 1O is-in the same circuit,it remainsenergized, and there} fore the lamp 11 remains lighted. As soon, however, as the ,operator in response to the si al insertsthe answerin -plug P into one gized, thus cutting off the circuit through theline-relay and causing the lamp 11 to go out. The relay 0 being deprived of cur--- rent its armature drops back, thus rein; Wing ,all ground connections from the line at the subscribers station. The same pressure on the button C that was made in order to call the central oihce alsocaused the registration have been made'without such action on his part. The operaton therefore proceeds to make up the connection in exactly the same manner as ifthe'subscriber were being charged on the flat-rate basis, and if she is able to secure the party called for she completes the connection without special work. If, however, for any reason she is unable to secure the party called foi",-she will, by means of key Q, connect the battery R with the tipstrand t ofthe answering 'plug P, and the C11- cuit may then be traced from the positive side of this battery to the contact q of the keyQ, the tip of the plug P, limb 1 of the line, thence through the subscribers talking apparatus to the coil of the return-magnet E, and back by means of the limb 2 of the line to the sleeve contact of the jack and plug,

' thence to the negative side of the battery B ing currents, and therefpre when calling-curto ground and to the negative side of the battery R. The two batteries R and B are thus put in series, thereby subjecting the circuit traced to a potential of approximately one hundred and ten volts. This is sufficient to operate the magnetE, which is inertto the currents normally traversing the line from the twenty-volt batteryB.

The energization of magnet E causes the projection e of the armature c to move into engagementwith the latch i,where it is held. In this position-of the armature the signal is is displayed to the subscriber, and he knows, therefore, that he 'will' receive his next call free. VVhan' the button C is next depressed for the purpose of sending another call, the arm 1) moves downward with the meter, the end a of the armature (2 being out of its path.

For this reason the meter does not register;

but the meter itself by" pressing against the arm 41 of the'lever I releases the catch i and allows the armature cto spring into its normal position, so that, unless, the creditingmagnet E is again operated the next call will be registered.

The magnet E is so adjusted that it will not attract its arn'iature when its coil is traversed by currents from the twenty-volt battery used in the normal operation of the exchange; Its winding is, moreover, of such a nature as to make. the magnet irresponsivc to alternatceases rent is sent out on the line of a calling subscriber equipped with one of my meters no effect whatever is produced on the creditingmagnet. This magnet, the relay O,'and the entire meter mechanism perform no function when the station with which they are associated receives a call.

I do not wish to limit myself in all respects to the exact construction or circuit connections here shown, as it is obvious that changes in the detailsof construction, connections, or in the method of operation may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention. v

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a telephone-service meter, aregistering device, means adapted to be actuated by a telephone user to cause said registering device to charge a call, and means under the control of the telephone operator for causing said registering device not to charge a call on the next succeeding actuation by the telephone user, substantially as described.

2. In a telephone-service meter, a registering device, means adapted to be actuated by the telephone user in making a call to cause said-registering device, to record one count, an electromagnet' adapted when energized to cause said registering device not to record one count when said means is actuated by the telephone user in making the next succeeding call, substantially as described.

3. In a device for vending service, a meter adapted to be actuated by the patron in obtaining service toregistera charge for service, and means under the control of the vendor to cause said meter not to registeracharge for service when actuated by the patron when next obtaining service, substantially as described.

4. In a meter for telephone service, a counter, means whereby a telephone user may cause said counter to register a charged call, an electromagnet associated with said counter, a telephone-line extending to a central oflice, means at said central o'liice for energizing said magnet to cause said counter not to register a charged call when said registering means is next operated by the telephone user, substantially as described.

5. In a telephone-service meter, a counter, means whereby a telephone user in sending a call causes said counter to register, an electromagnet associated with said counter, means controlled by said magnet to prevent said counter from registering when a call is sent, a telephone-line extending to a central ollice, and means at said central oilice for energizing said magnet, substantially as described;

6. In a telephone-service meter, :1 counter,

means actuated by a telephone user in send ing a call to cause said counter to register, an electromagnet associated with said counter,

an armature for said magnet adapted While in its attracted position to render said'meter inoperative, a latch-lever adapted to retain a central ofiice, a source of currentand a signal at said central ofli'ce, said signal being ada ted to respond to current flowing over sai .line from said source, a pair of contacts at said substation actuated by said registering device to momentarily close said. line-cir cuit to'actuate said si al, and a locking-relay'energized by the initial flow of current through saidpair of contacts to close a shunt-path around said contacts to maintain the dis lay'of said signal, substantially as describe 8. In a telephone system, a call-registering. device at a subscribers station, a metalliccircuit telephone-line connecting'said subscribers station to a central'ofiice, a source of current and a signal-receiving device connected between one limb of said line and ound at saidjcentral'office, a pair ofcontacts in said'call-registering device closed when said registering device is actuated to momentarily complete the circuit between said limb of the lineand ound at said sub; station, and a locking-re ay at said substa tion actuated by'the initial flow 0i mnrent through said pair of contacts to close a shunt-path around said contacts-to maintain the dis lay of said signal, substantially as as; scribe r Lu gi 9. In a telephone'system, a call-registering; device at a subscriber's station, a nietallid' circuit telephone-line connecting sea.

vice is actuate scribers station to a central oflice, a source of current and a SlgIlfiLIGCBlVIDg devlce con nected between one limb of said line and ground 'at said central ofiice, a pair of contacts in said call-registering device closed when said registering device is actuated to momentarily complete the circuit between said limb of the line and ground at said substation, a' locking-rela tuated by the initial ow of current through said pair of contacts to close a shunt-path around said-contacts to maintain the display of said signal, and a relay at said central oflice operated when connection is made with the line to open the circuit through said signal-receiving device and locking-relay, substantially as described.

10. In a telephone system, a call-regimen a subscribers station, a device ing device at call-registering deviceto credit to cause said a count, a metallic-circuit line connecting said substation with a central office, a source of current and a line-signal at said central oflice,-a pair of contacts in said call-registering device ada ted, when said registering deline-signal, a locking-relay at said substation actuated by the initial fiow' ofcurrent through the line to maintain the eration of said display of said signal, a magnet in said callregistering device adapted, when actuated,

to credit a count, an auxiliary source of ourat said substation ac to cause the momentary op-- rent at-said central office and means at the I central ofiice to cause current from said auxstantiall as describe by me atChicago, county of iliary source to energize said magnet, su I I S" e i I 80 'and' lfiate of Illinois, this 31st day of March, 

